This background section is provided for the purpose of generally describing the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventor(s), to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Network-addressable telecommunications headsets—headsets that are capable of directly attaching to an IP-based network for initiating and receiving calls independent of a host device, such as a mobile phone or computer—are expected to increase the collaboration and productivity of workers in office environments. All headsets, however, are effectively precluded from including traditional user control mechanisms, such as displays and touch screens, that are found on other devices such as mobile phones and computers. In other words, a user-operable control that relies on displaying visual content to a user is of limited use when the display is worn on top of or on the side of the user's head. Accordingly, headsets generally have limited user interfaces, and often rely on a fixed arrangement of physical buttons. Because of these limitations, a network-addressable headset may lack the user-operable controls that enable a user to quickly determine who is online, or open a new voice communication session. In some cases, voice recognition may help, by allowing the calling party to select which device the called party is alerted on (e.g., “call Bob's mobile,” “call Bob at home,” “call Bob at work,” etc.), but this is a static model that initiates a call from the voice recognition device to a device of the called party, as specifically identified by the calling party. This model lacks flexibility, and relies on limited user knowledge to anticipate the best call option.